Greek word · G3895

παραπίπτω

parapiptō

to defect

Literally 'to fall beside', so to miss the way, go astray, slip or err. In Jewish Greek it carries a sharper religious sense: to act faithlessly toward God, to commit treachery or trespass. The related noun paraptōma ('trespass') is common in Paul.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament.

What it means

παρα-πίπτω

[in LXX: Ezekiel 14:13 (מָעַל), Ezekiel 22:4 (אָשַׁם), Esther 6:10 (נָפַל hi.), Wisdom of Solomon 6:9 12:2, 2Ma.10:4 A* ;]

1. most frequently (Hdt., Thuc., al.), to fall in one's way, befall.

2. to fall into or in (before εἰς, Polyb.; with dative, 2Mac, l.with).

3. to fall away (En, Wis, ll. with; in Polyb., with genitive) : absol., Hebrews 6:6.

4. to fail (λόγος, Es, l.with; cf. 1 Samuel 3:19).†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Hebrews 6:6

Range of meaning

Literally 'to fall beside', so to miss the way, go astray, slip or err. In Jewish Greek it carries a sharper religious sense: to act faithlessly toward God, to commit treachery or trespass. The related noun paraptōma ('trespass') is common in Paul.

Against the English

'Fall away' (BSB, KJV, ESV, NIV) is a fair rendering. NLT's 'turn away from God' brings out that it is a turning against God. The trouble is what English hearers do with 'fall away'. Church usage applies it to drifting, missing church or a season of moral failure, which is much weaker than the word's covenant-breaking sense here.

How it drifted

In modern church talk 'falling away' has become a general word for backsliding. It loses the Septuagint sense of treachery and the active hostility the rest of this verse spells out.

Used elsewhere in the period

In the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), Ezekiel uses it for Hebrew ma'al, 'to act unfaithfully, commit a breach of trust' (Ezek 14:13; 15:8; 18:24, 'in his trespass that he trespassed'; 20:27). Wisdom of Solomon 6:9 warns rulers 'that you may learn wisdom and not fall away'. Wisdom 12:2 speaks of God correcting 'those who fall away' little by little. In secular Hellenistic Greek (e.g. Polybius) it means to stray or err. It appears only here in the New Testament.

Where it appears

Hebrews · 1

  1. Hebrews 6:6 παραπεσόντας having fallen away —

    and then have fallen away—to be restored to repentance, because they themselves are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to open shame.

    Here: A one-off word in the New Testament. In the Greek Old Testament it translates Hebrew words for breaking faith with God. The past-tense form (aorist) presents the falling away as a completed act, matching the other completed experiences in vv.4–5: the people pictured have turned their back on what they received.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.